Metformin use may be associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer

the ONA take:

According to a new study published in the journal European Urology, researchers have found that metformin use was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer diagnosis while other oral antihyperglycemics had no decreased risk.

For the nested case-control study, researchers identified 12,226 cases of prostate cancer among men residing in Northern Denmark between 1989 and 2011 from the Danish Cancer Registry and the Aarhus University Prescription Database.

They found that compared with never-users of metformin, metformin users had a decreased risk of prostate cancer diagnosis (adjusted OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.74 - 0.96). In addition, diabetics on no antihyperglycemics (adjusted OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.89 - 1.09) or on oral antihyperglycemics other than metformin (adjusted OR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.86 - 1.10) did not have a decreased risk of prostate cancer. Insulin users also had a decreased risk of prostate cancer (adjusted OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.64 - 0.93).

Furthermore, among patients who had prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing prior to 1 year before being indexed, metformin users had a decreased risk of prostate cancer versus nonusers (adjusted OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.51 - 0.86). In the same PSA-tested group, diabetics on no medication, other oral antihyperglycemics, or insulin did not have a significant reduced risk of the disease.

Metformin use associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer diagnosis.

In this study, authors want to evaluate the association between metformin use and PCa diagnosis. Metformin use was associated with decreased risk of PCa diagnosis, whereas diabetics using other oral hypoglycemics had no decreased risk.